1/8/16

Hey Mack, Happy new year. Hope
all is well with you and continues to be so.

Given we are still 45 or so days
away from pitchers and catchers, it is a good time to ponder what we have and
what we will look like moving forward.

How do you see the existing farm
system evolving into major league pieces? Do you see Smith, Cecchini, Rosario
and Nimmo all moving into the major league roster? FWIW, I see Herrera taking
2B in 2017, Smith 1B in 2018 and Rosario taking SS possibly mid 2018. Do you
see Nimmo becoming a bona fide OF or maybe a platoon partner in CF with Lagares
maybe as early as 2017? I’m not sure where Cecchini fits in to this.

One I am really looking forward
to seeing in 2016 is Beccera. Granderson is in right for 2016-17. I’m really
hoping that Beccera can be the man to take over in 2018.

Mack – Thanks John
for the question and Happy New Year to you too.

I’ve had a tough
time I the past predicting the final outcome on some of the Mets prospects in
the system. Starting pitching wise, I was right about most of the guys, but I’m
still awaiting Rafael Montero to recover from injuries to see if I’m right
about him.

In the past, I was wrong about
both Juan Lagares and Wilmer
Flores. I never though either one would make the pros, no less flourish
there. I did expect Michael Conforto to make it,
but none of us could have predicted how fast he got there.

Right now, I don’t see a lot of
shoe-ins, mainly due to the fact that the current Mets management doesn’t seem
to like turning rookies into starters. They seem much more comfortable in
filling in the cracks with veterans via trades and the free agency route.

I don’t see anyone cracking the barrier
in 2016.

I do see Dominic
Smith becoming the starting first baseman in 2017 and this probably will
be the first year that Dilson Herrera may get a
chance to play every day at second. I like Amed Rosario
a lot, but it’s too early to predict anything on him. As for Brandon Nimmo, he hasn’t even done enough to convince me
he could make it as a platoon outfielder.

The Mets are still open to
signing a veteran arm for their bullpen, writes MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo in his latest Inbox column. Jeurys Familia, Addison Reed and Jerry Blevins are locks to fit in, and at least three
of Sean Gilmartin, Erik Goeddel, Carlos Torres, Logan
Verrett and Hansel Robles should end up
in the ’pen as well, DiComo writes (or, presumably, four of the five, in
absence of the aforementioned veteran addition). With lefties
Josh Smoker and Dario Alvarez as well as
righties Jim Henderson and Rafael Montero also serving as possibilities, the team
does have quite a bit of depth, DiComo notes.

Mack – Let’s not
forget that the signing of Henderson could be a significant one.

Henderson, as they say, has 'been around'. He's pitched in parts of 13 seasons in the minors, posting a combined 3.92 ERA.His premier season in the majors came in 2013 for the Brewers... 61-G, 45-GF, 28-SV, 2.70, 1.13, 60-IP, 75-KHe's a 6-4 righty (who isn't these days) that will play 2015 as a 33-year old.Paul DePodesta was hired by the Mets on 11-8-10 and has been accredited with rebuilding the Mets minor league system... but what does that really mean?His first draft (2011) hasn't produced, to date, one genuine producer. In fact, the only players to sit on the Queens dugout bench so far have been Cory Mazzoni (2nd round), Logan Verrett (3rd), Jack Leathersich (5th), and Danny Muno (8th). First round pick Brandon Nimmo has still not proved himself worthy of the pick.2012, which includes the Teddy Stankiewicz (2nd round) debacle, have only produced Kevin Plawecki (1st) and Matt Reynolds (2nd). The Mets also picked Gavin Cecchini (12th pick overall) in the first round, but many have questions this pick as well.And as much as the pick of Dominic Smith in the first round of the 2013 draft looks to be a good one, it's too early to tell.The one home run he did pick was Michael Conforto with the first pick in the 2014 draft.Past that, most of the exciting additions to the Mets in recent years... Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Dilson Herrera, Travis D'Arnaud, Wuilmer Becerra... have been through trades executed by Sandy Alderson.Let's not forget that DePo was fired in 2005 by the Los Angeles Dodgers after leading them to their worst win-loss record in 11 years.

2
comments:

Good morning everybody. Today is my daughters 3rd birthday so I won't be on here much today.

I think I've said a few times before but might as well say it again. I love talking prospects but seriously how many can all come up at the same time?The one a year strategy with the stud arms obviously worked to perfection in 2015 because outside of wheeler they ALL met expectations and stayed healthy. But I think hitters are different. Regardless of talent can we expect smith, herrers, checchini and nimmo to be in a mlb lineup together all with little experience and help this team win a title?We saw what happened to the Cubs and they from I understand seem to have had a core group ghatr probably projects out a lot higher than the above mentioned Mets kiddies.They can probably all come up year after year IF guys around them like wright, Conforto (already) grandy (and his successor) and guys like walker and Cabrera have monster years offensively to take the pressure off.